Tour Day 4--Oui, oui!! Montreal, Quebec Canada!

A little bit of time lapsed since my last entry...things have gotten way cool in my personal life so I have been kind of preoccupied...I start school again tomorrow, so I wanted to wrap the the tour blog...

So after a very successful show we are on the road headed to Montreal...The plan was to drive a few hours so we would be at the half way point. So I drove a bit and with everyone else crashed out, I started getting tired. I was maybe about 2 hours into the drive and said hell with it and stopped at the next exit...Cool, a Best Western!

Which was fully booked...fuck!

Back on the road I went and drove for awhile...Exits are not as frequent where we were at and I was limited in using my phone (GPS/Google Maps) because of data roaming so I was kicking it old school!! Also, there are not a ton of highway signs like here...you know, the blue ones that tell you where McDonald's is?

Another exit, and look at that...another Best Western...Went in...no one at the desk...Waited for 5 minutes...rang bell...still no one around...Goddammit!! I just wanted to go to sleep...

Back on the road again...found another seemingly populated area after a few miles...Got off and looked for hotels...The ones I found were not appealing to the eye...They looked like those fishing cottages you see in rural areas of Wisconsin...I got a total Deliverance vibe and decided we would stick with the chain hotels...

Back on the road again...And at this point, I'm starting to get mad. Mad because I'm tired and want to go to sleep. Mad because I am starting to see double while driving. Mad because I can't seem to catch a break with hotels. Mad because the three other insensitive assholes in the truck are dead to the world sleeping. Mad because...

Oh snap!! A Motel 6 up ahead!! Fifth times the charm?

As I said, I was seeing double at this point so I was having a hard time navigating...David woke up as I passed the turn off few times...the motel was in this "off" area and I just had a hard time finding where to go...David successfully was my eyes and I pulled onto the service road that lead me into the lot...

Got out and attempted to check in...Yes, they had rooms...however, there was a caveat...I dunno if Motel 6 is considered a 4 star hotel in Canada or not, but the price sure was...$125.00!!!! Ok, not exactly 4 star, but you know what I mean. Hell, I can find them around here for $40.00 a night...I begrudgingly payed and headed back to the truck...I just wanted sleep! So here I am steaming pissed as I went and parked...Went to the trailer to get the bags...The lock was not on there right meaning the trailer was unlocked for the last three or so hours...Not too big of a deal, but it was just enough to trigger the Tom Temper!! Stuff was flying around the trailer as I searched for my bag...I tossed everyone else's out, slammed the door shut, locked it properly, yelled out the room number, and headed up...

It was a nice Motel 6 though...Brand new. But fuck it...it was 5am and I just spent $125.00 for a four hour nap...Ugh...With every attempt I try to be frugal on the road, it never fucking works out that way. I am always keeping mad track of the band money and I get miffed when it starts depleting. Seems like we never get ahead.

We had to be at the gig at 3pm...I figured we were about three and a half hours away...We could get a nap and head out around 11 and be fine...And that's what we did after waking, getting our showers on, and stopping for gas/food...

As I was driving, I still felt like we were behind...the mile signs seemed longer than I had thought...Oh wait, they are in kilometers...Duh!

We get into Quebec...at that point, everything turns French! The signage, everything...Weird. We keep plodding along and the directions put us on this highway that turns into a regular city road for awhile...We laughed when we saw a KFC...There it is called PFK...

The road turns back to a highway and we are getting close...I noticed a shit ton of graffiti on the overpasses which seemed odd to me. I always think of Canada as this pristine place...It looked like we were back home in Chicago.

Jim did good with the directions. I am terrible about navigating once we get close...cities always screw with me. After a massive traffic jam, we find the exit. And sure as shit, the place is located in a busy downtown area. In a very steep area. With a festival of some sorts going on. And tons of traffic, both pedestrian and vehicle...And I overshot the club. Fuck!

Wasn't that bad though...was able to circle around and get there...After a bitch of a time backing in the trailer next to the bus, we met up with everyone and began unloading.

The club, Katacombes was pretty cool, although set up kind of weird. It was all circular and the stage was kind of small. There was not a lot of room to store gear. There were going to be two opening bands this night, so the room was really filling up with gear. We also wouldn't be able to backline due to the small stage and the openers.

I must say this...Jim was a trooper for this show...He put up with a lot of shit. David went to the truck to sleep, Adam went and did whatever Adam does, and I kind of wandered around, drank, or hung out with Ian from Destroyer. Jim attempted to set up his kit, work with the stage manager, dealt with the opening bands, etc. It was kind of an odd situation, which I wanted no part of. I just wanted to go get some Poutine!! Which I did...and it was everything I thought it would be!!



Upon my return to the club, I ran into an old friend, Annick Giroux. She did the zine, Morbid Tales and most recently, the super awesome cookbook, Hellbent For Cooking!

We played catch up a bit and it turns out she was DJ'ing at the club in between bands! Awesome, as she has great taste in music...



I was allowed to drink without limit today...David said he would handle the first leg of the trip home. He napped on and off in the truck throughout the night. Awesome! And drink I did...In fact, I sampled so many different beers...It would be a good night.

A pretty big line was forming outside. Everyone in Toronto said this would be a great show for us and it was sure shaping up that way, minus the logistical problems...The first two bands played to a pretty packed house. A very good sign. We were up next and our goal (as always) was to destroy the place. We were uncertain as I think we were unfamiliar to many, but it seems we won them over based on the merch sales after the performance. We about sold out of everything we had. Also we more than recovered from the previous hotel and then some, so I was feeling better.

Here is a video from the show...



Again, the metal fans there are great. We met a lot of cool people and made a lot of new friends. Sure there is a bit of a language barrier. However, their English is 50 times better than my French, so no complaints. If you are in a band, I highly recommend adding Montreal to your list of places to play.

Not much to say about Destroyer and Enthroned. They both killed it yet again. In fact, KK made mention that it was the best show of the tour. I would concur, even though I was not there for the whole tour. But the metal fans in Montreal are crazy and fucking dedicated!!! The place was packed.

After the show, we all hung out. The club was opened till 3:30am, and we finally got the chance to hang out without worrying about anything other than going home. Annick played some great tunes while the typical sing-a-longs, drinking, and debauchery occurred as always. We were having a blast, yet we were kind of sad as we would be going home. We did not want it to end and we made that clear to both Destroyer and Enthroned...

They were playing the Hostile City Deathfest in Philly the next day. We had tried to get on when we found out we were on the tour to no avail. Ian suggested we just go with anyway as there are always cancellations. Since we had their backing, it may have been worth a shot, but we decided against it. It was decided that we would make plans in the future though as we all really hit it off...

The bar was closing and it was time to leave. We had a 14 + hour drive ahead of us. David, as promised, took the first shift. I stayed up with him awhile until he got out of Montreal and on the main highway we would be taking all the way back.

The conclusion/aftermath coming soon...Stay tuned!!